1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a thin film layered centrifuge device and an analysis method using the same. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a thin film layered centrifuge device wherein a thin-film rotatable body is integrated with an apparatus to diagnose and detect a small amount of materials present in fluids, such as a lab-on-a-chip, a protein chip and a DNA chip, and an analysis method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
General clinical diagnosis and analysis apparatuses to detect a small amount of analytes in fluids include multiple sample arrangement and automated sample feed devices, and have a structure in which an apparatus to analyze a large number of test samples in series or parallel is integrated on a rotatable thin film body to improve analysis efficiency and economic efficiency. For example, rotatable bio discs are one type of such analyzers. Such thin-film analyzers for clinical tests enable various types of analysis to be performed accurately and automatically at a low cost, based on the centrifugal force generated by rotation of the bio disc, with a small amount of samples and specimens.
Considering thin film-type CDs and DVDs, standard compact discs can be formed from a 12 cm polycarbonate substrate, reflective metal layer and a protective layer coating. The format of CDs, DVD and CD-ROMs may be in accordance with ISO 9660 industrial standard. The polycarbonate substrate is made of optical-quality transparent polycarbonate. A data layer in standard printed or bulk-copied CDs is a part of the polycarbonate substrate and the data is printed by a stamper in the form of a series of pits during injection molding. Polycarbonate molten during the injection molding process is injected into a mold at a high pressure and is then cooled to obtain polycarbonate in the form of the mold, the stamper or a mirror-image thereof, and pits showing binary data on the disc substrate are formed on the polycarbonate substrate. The stamping master may be a glass. Such a disc may be modified into a thin film analyzer to diagnose and detect a small amount of material in a fluid. In this case, channels to allow flow of fluids, chambers to store buffer solutions, and holes or valves, may be formed on the surface of the disc instead of the pits.
Hereinafter, a disc wherein bio chips such as a lab-on-a-chip, a protein chip and DNA chip to diagnose and detect a small amount of materials in fluids are integrated in a disc such as a conventional CD-ROM or DVD, or a disc to perform biological and chemical processes to diagnose and detect a small amount of materials in fluids is referred to as a bio disc.
Conventional bio discs may include a plurality of chambers to store a large volume of liquid-phase biological and chemical materials required for chemical processes. The biological and chemical processes include preparing specimens from samples, centrifugation, DNA amplification, hybridization, antigen-antibody reactions, mixing, washing and the like. The biological and chemical processes may be sequentially automatically performed on the bio disc, which is known in the art. However, there is a need to solve the following problems associated with bio discs in order to make practical application possible.
For the process of centrifugation wherein specimens are extracted from samples, a valve, which does not leak during centrifugation, is required. Conventional valves to realize close/open operations based on physical movement perform the operations in such a manner that a ball or closing portion comes into contact with a hole or a channel, or the ball or closing portion is separated therefrom, which are known in the art. However, these valves inevitably allow opening based on physical movement, thus entailing incomplete closing. Accordingly, inherent hydraulic pressure of fluids may cause leakage during centrifugation. This leakage prevents extraction of desired amounts of specimens from samples by centrifugation, thus causing deterioration in assay reliability and accuracy. Accordingly, there is a need for a centrifuge device that does not leak during rapid rotation.